The last few days in lovely Hawaii we engaged exploration mode. Sunday we set out early to traverse the island on Saddle Road, with a hopeful view of Mauna Kea. Blessings continue though, enough that the peak was hidden, and we skirt storms all the way to Waimea, up to Hawi. By now I'm digging, but getting used to, the rainbows. You know what I wasn't expecting to see a plethora of in Hawaii? Cows. Third largest cattle ranch in the US is Parker Ranch with 130,000 acres on the Big Island. Cows in paradise. I bet they produce superior milk, cuz of the sprawling pastures with amazing views of the shoreline.
Hawi is a teensy, fun + hippy kind of place. We ate a very tasty early lunch at Sweet Potato Kitchen & Bakery, an organic vegan cafe, before making our way down along the coast along Highway 270, stopping first at Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site. Once the palace of the great Hawaiian King Kamehameha I, goats now make it their watchtower.
The views from the palace are just lovely. We'd finally gotten out of the rain. In the picture above you can see it off to the right. The clouds and blessings dissipated at the edge of the island over the ocean. It was neat to track as we drove around the island.
Just south of Pu'ukohola Heiau we discovered Hāpuna Beach State Park, which we found to be lovely beach with craggy, black rock and trees hanging over a white, sandy beach. We earmarked it for our snorkel adventure on Monday. You'll have to wait for a pic until we get to Monday. Patience is a virtue, you know.
We were hoping for an evening on Mauna Kea stargazing, but blessings, you know. A good trade off? Catching a lovely sunset at one of the parks on the Hilo side of the island. Richardson Ocean Park is gorg. It's not beach. It's black, craggy rocks meeting the blue ocean in mighty sprays.
 |
| Richardson Ocean Park |
On Mondays in Hawaii, we snorkel
If Saturdays are hiking days, Mondays then become snorkel days. And Monday, folks, we snorkeled. It was another item on the Hawaiian adventure list to check. And we had a blast.According to all the great snorkelers, the best snorkeling time is the morning. So we set our alarm for o'dark thirty to make the drive across the island to an extension of Hāpuna Beach State Park. We were on point and some of the first folks to arrive. We scored a nice little spot to lay out our new Target beach towels and hang snacks from tree branches. The water was cold, and I didn't care for it one bit. Not to mention the claustrophobia that comes from trusting snorkel gear to breathe. But we got used to it and were paddling around the rocks and reef in no time.
And we made an awesome discovery. Godzilla also lives in Hawaii and makes an appearance every so often. Monday was one of those days, and Jayme just happened to capture the action on the underwater camera.
Just wait for it. We're in a serene underwater setting, discovering fishes nibbling on coral... then BAM, Godzilla churns through the scene. You saw it here first.
Snorkeling is fab, y'all. Jayme captured some fun video of the undertow tossing fishies around and fun colored specimens avoiding eye contact. Here are a few fun underwater videos in a Google Photos Album.
When snorkel time is officially up and we've hung out on our beach towels for >5 minutes, it's time to visit Kona (aka find lunch) and continue exploration of the Big Island.
Kona looks like a mini suburbia perched on a beautiful coastline. We score a tasty lunch, and then hit the road to check out the Captain Cook area and drive on around Highway 11 with a few diversions to check out notable sites.
We decide not to stop at Pu'uhonua O Hōnaunau National Historical Park for no better reason than we were lazy, weren't interested in fighting the crowds and paying $20 to stay 20 minutes. It's the only national park on Island of Hawai'i that I didn't acquire a stamp of for my national park passport -- don't judge; you're just jeally. Lazy enough to overcome my achieverness meant we were feeling pretty lazy indeed. I think snorkeling stretched muscles we hadn't used in a while. So we pressed on around Highway 11, stopping to stretch our legs at an overlook that traced lava flows from Mauna Loa down to the southern tip of the island. Then drove on around towards Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, stopping at Whittington Beach Park, where it was us, aunties fishing and a camper van. We like quiet and we like lovely, so we were cool with that.
 |
| Whittington Beach Park |
 |
| Punalu'lu Beach |
As we curved back up towards Hilo, we again encountered a deluge of blessings. But that was ok, because relaxing after the long drive was just the thing.
On Tuesdays, we set goals
On Tuesday, our last day on the Big Island we had two goals: 1) stuff everything we brought and purchased into carry-on luggage for the trip home (which we failed at and had to do the thing I was really, really trying to avoid) and 2) see Leilani Estates where the 2018 lava flows took out half of the neighborhood.1) I was really trying to avoid Wal-mart. And yes, I can attest that Wal-mart in Hawaii smells and looks like Wal-marts elsewhere. But we needed a cheap bag to carry stuff home in. Why dirty clothes expand so much is truly a mystery. Dirt molecules can't be that much bigger.
 |
| Luana Street |
 |
| The End of the Road, literally for Pohoiki Road |
We talked about how we would feel if we knew we were living on land with the very real potential of it being covered up by newly formed land. I suppose it's no different that living on the coast expecting hurricanes or watching a tornado take out a house in the subdivision behind yours. That's certainly scary and can be uncertain. But Hawaiians south of Mauna Loa and the younger Kīlauea sit on living land. That was hard for me to process. A young man we met at the airport who currently lives in Oakland, talked about the richness of the land, able to grow just about anything. He had just bought acreage outside of Hilo for orchards. We asked him about living on active volcanoes. It was no worse to him than living with the threat of earthquakes or global warming. So interesting.
And then it's back to real life
On Wednesday, we headed back to Honolulu, dined at a a recommended Vietnamese place, ate tasty banana "ice cream" and strolled along Waikiki Beach with the hordes.The day we come home from a trip is always surreal to me. In the morning you're on a tropical island surrounded by thousands of miles of mighty ocean, then several hours later, after navigating airports, dodging stressed families, waiting out delays and hurtling through the air in a metal tube, you're emptying dirty molecules from stuffed luggage into the laundry bin before climbing into your own bed. Keeping trip memories easily at hand, remembering what you learned as you were exploring new cultures, history and territories, that is the thing.
Mahalo, Hawai'i. May your aloha spirit be true.
Before you leave, you can check out a curated album from the trip in our Mahalo, Hawai'i Goggle Photos album. Trying a different approach with the Hawaii adventures posts, putting the majority of photos I would normally share in an album.
Godzilla, should you wish to access your photos, you can call our agent.
